RARE COMBINATION OFLUNAR ECLIPSE & WINTER SOLSTICE
Some of the posters are talking about how rare this eclipse is, occurring on the same day as the solstice. If you're talking about a total lunar eclipse visible from the Bay Area on the same day as the winter solstice -- you're right, it hasn't happened for a long time.
But if you're talking about any eclipse (lunar or solar) that occurs within 24 hours of any of the key season dates (summer solstice, winter solstice, spring equinox, autumnal equinox), it't not all that rare -- about once every 9.5 years on the average.
examples:
- This week's total lunar eclipse takes place 15 hours before the December solstice.
- In 2015, a total solar eclipse occurs 13 hours before the March equinox.
- In 2029, a total lunar eclipse occurs 16 hours before the December solstice.
There's no astronomical significance to the coincidence -- just a nice opportunity to contemplate two unrelated astronomical events at the same time. Read the article SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/Total eclipse of the moon can be seen all over Monday
This is one of the great mysterious coincidences of our solar system: The sun, earth, and moon's respective diameters, and distances and placement in space is so perfectly arranged as to make these eclipses possible. And the study of the corona, and the bending of starlight observable (which lent creedence to the theory of relativity).
Read the article NPR/Moon will turn into a "reddish ball"
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Just got home from watching the lunar eclipse in DC. It was incredible! Friend and I made hot chocolate, packed cookies, and went to the George Washington Parkway, where there are few lights, to watch the show. Wonderful evening with the sun roof open, heated seats warming, and the eclipse going on overhead. It won't soon be forgotten.
It was somewhat spoiled by U.S. Park Police deciding that we and the other four cars in the lot, who were clearly there to watch the much heralded event, were a threat to public safety and threatened us with tickets if we didn't leave. The U.S. Park Police needs to apply common sense to their work rather than running off harmless citizens drinking hot chocolate in a parking lot.
Read the article WASHINGTON POST/Lunar eclipse coincides with winter solstice
EVEN EARLY MAN NEEDED A STORK CLUB
Speculation, speculation...
Maybe the Hobbits hunted the storks.
Maybe the storks strictly hunted fish ( stork religious observance..)
Maybe the storks were domesticated.
Maybe the hobbits rode on the storks. Maybe they even flew on them.
And maybe pigs could fly. You never know. That is one very strange island..
.Read the article .HUFFINGTON POST/Giant stork may have fed on ancient hobbit-like humans on flores Island
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What an absurd non-news item. So there were very tall storks on the island. And very small hominins. How does that in any way lead to the notion that the former may have eaten the latter? Because marabou storks are scavengers?
I'm a 1.8 meter tall homo sapiens, and an omnivore by nature, but I don't eat modern storks. Or egrets, for that matter, although I encounter egrets in Kyoto every day. It sounds like the people who found the stork remains want to generate publicity by slipping in this tenuous connection to the more popular Homo floresiensis, while at the same covering their asses with the weaselly disclaimer, "Whether or not this animal may have eaten hobbits is speculative. There is no evidence for that, but cannot be excluded either."
That sort of "It may be true, because it hasn't been disproved" line of sketchy pseudo-logic is the same kind pedaled by creationists. And naturally, the media can't resist a "giant storks ate hobbits" headline. Ugh. .
Read the article SIFY/Fossils of giant flying bird discovered on 'hobbit' island of Flores
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Birds are basically the last remnants of dinosaurs left so I always treat them with respect, and during the summer months, leave bread crumbs for them outside, as an offering if you will.
When my cat chased a bird into my house and injured him, I called ASPCA or some organization that came and got the poor little thing so...if they evolve back into what they once were (and here in Cambridge we have disgusting rats the size of my cat so anything is possible), I expect to be treated with respect and not eaten. I will even provide them with tasty humans so long as they leave me and my cat alone.
Read the article GAWKER/Prehistoric hobbit humans hunted by giant six-feet storks
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The Ancient Greeks told stories about Pygmies being hunted by storks, though they placed the action in Africa rather than in Indonesia. But then, their geography was not all that fool-proof.
Read the article GAWKER/Prehistoric hobbit humans hunted by giant six-feet storks
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If only those things existed in Middle Earth, I could have saved 8 of the hours I wasted on the Lord of the Rings...
Read the article GAWKER/Prehistoric hobbit humans hunted by giant six-feet storks
DOLPHIN TALKS RUN SILENT AT TAIJI COVE
From what I have read from the NGOs who have kept vigil in Taiji daily since Sept 1, there have been 3 slaughters. (One in Sept, two in Oct).
Sad that this was set up to appear as an open meeting of the minds and Japanese media especially were excluded. What on earth does the Mayor and the Fishing Union/fisherman have to hide by doing this? It only makes the outside world wonder what more are they hiding!
As for ‘pest control’ for their fishing, it is odd that the rest of the world also have dolphins yet we don’t slaughter entire pods and then eat them. None of the FU’s arguments add up.
Read the article REUTERS/Debate over dolphin hunt a "sham" - The 'Cove' Star
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This is a very slippery slope argument. While I do not believe in cruelly slaughtering animals for meat (I know that this is an oxymoron, but work with me here.), the killing of animals for sustenance is the way nature works.
The entire population of the world cannot live on vegetables alone. We should not give a blanket "do not kill" order on an animal simply because they are cute.
Then you get into the philosophical argument of "who decides what is and is not cute or intelligent". Should we assign a committee to determine what animals are too cute/intelligent to eat?
Read the article CNN/Activist boycotts dolphin hunt meeting in Japan
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Dolphins are anything but "nice", they will kill porpoises for no known reason. Dolphins may also "play" with their food, taunting it before they kill it. Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with this method of killing them, but they are not the happy-go-lucky characters that they are so often portrayed as.
Read the article CNN/Activist boycotts dolphin hunt meeting in Japan
The Japanese do not own the ocean. We all have to do something about the ecosystem.
Within any given area, living and nonliving interact with each other. Together, these things form an ecosystem. Because all of the elements within an ecosystem are interrelated, these systems can be quite complex.
Changing even one element can impact the entire ecosystem—for good, or for bad. We rely on coastal and marine ecosystems, for food, recreation, transportation, and more. And yet, our use of these resources can upset the balance of the entire ecosystem if we aren't careful. Slowly but surely all other causes won't matter when we destroy the ocean. What is more important than that I ask?
Read the article MODESTO BEE/' The Cove' creates two Oakdale activists
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Well, we all have our opinions, now don't we? And I respect your right to disagree. There are differences among animals, to be sure. I see a huge difference between a chimpanzee (who can communicate via sign language and have complex thought) and a squirrel.
And I see a huge difference between a dolphin (who also communicate with humans and each other, as well as forming lasting family units and who mourn the loss of a fellow pod member) and a cow. But, I would respect the right of people to come from another country and voice opinions about cow slaughters.
Especially since there are MANY people in OUR country that are against the slaughter of any animal for food - wouldn't really be so unusual here, I guess.
And, if you don't think that increasing the numbers of people recording and observing in the cove isn't making a difference, I would beg to differ considering the amount of press the area has received since the numbers increased. The more people there, the more press attention will be given. And we all know that more press equals more attention to a cause. Agree or not to the cause itself, you can't argue the facts that having people there is creating press.
Read the article MODESTO BEE/' The Cove' creates two Oakdale activists
READ MORE COMMENTS: OCTOBER 2010
